


Dealing with Thomas

by badassbutterfly1987



Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asphyxiation, Child Death, Dark fic, Drowning, Gen, Infant Death, Murder, Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28736322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badassbutterfly1987/pseuds/badassbutterfly1987
Summary: 5 universes where Lord Raith killed Thomas and the one where he didn't.
Kudos: 8





	Dealing with Thomas

Lord Raith doesn’t have any particular hatred for boys. They were amusing enough as children. But boys eventually become men, and all of his male children had eventually proven to be too dangerous.

Margaret had been exhausted after birth and it was easy to remove the infant from her arms. It was better this way. Better to remove the child before she became attached.

It is resting in its cradle. The infant is a little smaller than a human child should be. White Court children were rarely born healthy as a result of their half-breed nature. The few hours after birth were the riskiest. Even human children faced that danger; some could die without reason. It will be simple to justify.

It is pathetically easy to stop its breathing. The infant’s small hands weakly try to push him away, driven by the instinctual need for air. It is not enough and doesn’t take long. He keeps his hand there a minute after it stops breathing just in case. Lara will dispose of it.

Margaret will be upset but under the enthrallment she will soon forget about it. Besides, they can always have more children.

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When Lord Raith realizes what Margaret’s death curse has done to him, all he can feel is rage. Margaret is already dead and there is no longer anything he can do to her. Nor does he know a way to break the curse.

But she left their son behind.

His anger cools by the time he reaches the boy’s room, but he has no intention of straying from his course. Lord Raith’s steps are too quiet for anyone but those with enhanced senses to hear; the boy is still only human. Thomas is deeply sleeping under the star covered bedsheets. He had recently developed an obsession with astronomy.

Lord Raith slips his hand around the back of his son’s neck.

Thomas stirs then, the brief moment of confusion as he opens his eyes, not understanding what—

The neck breaks and the spinal cord is severed. The boy’s body goes limp. His gaze is empty of life.

The White Court quietly disapproves of the killing of young children. This will damage his reputation, but they will forget about it eventually. It is not enough for them to rebel.

Lara is noticeably reserved after Thomas’ sudden death but she will not mourn forever. Her affection for her youngest sibling had made her weak. If it had continued, Lara might have chosen her growing love for her brother over her loyalty to her father. One less problem to worry about.

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Thomas is 15 years old when he awakens to his true nature.

Like most teenagers he had become increasingly rebellious. So one day he leaves the Estate, goes to the center of the nearest city, gets far too drunk, and is taken to a hotel room by a stranger.

When the boy wakes up to the dead body beside him, he goes into shock and doesn’t move for hours. Lara eventually tracks him down.

He is barely responsive afterwards, not even when he is dragged to a bathtub to be cleaned off. Lord Raith knew that those who awoke so early could be… unpredictable. That is enough justification.

He pushes his son under the water. Thomas thrashes against. He is stronger now but lacks the experience to use it. When the water fills his lungs the movements finally weaken. It does not take much longer than that.

He later drops his son’s body into the chasm in the Deeps.

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Few of Thomas’ brothers had lived this long. It is easy enough to remedy that.

Lord Raith had not gone out of his way to kill his son. Thomas lacked the ambition to be truly dangerous and had some political use. He put the boy in dangerous situations occasionally but through a combination of luck and cunning he kept surviving. It was almost amusing to see what he would do. A shame it eventually fell apart.

Lord Raith starts to suspect something after Bianca’s party. It increases with Ortega’s duel. Thomas had been sent to both as an insult. Thomas escaped both unharmed. Both involved the wizard Dresden who was known for both his penchant for violence and disregard for the Council’s rules. Would he go far enough to ally with a vampire?

Around the same time Thomas shows increasing amounts of defiance. Small enough to not require more than a reprimand but still concerning. The way Thomas stiffens when he mentions the wizard in a conversation is confirmation enough. He is not willing to tolerate the idea of losing Thomas’ loyalty to a wizard. He has Lara deal with him.

When Lara comes back later, she is unable to completely hide her distress. Unfortunate, but she will get over it eventually. Lord Raith doesn’t ask how she killed him or what was done with the body. There is a passing moment of something resembling regret.

He moves on like he always does.

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Thomas had betrayed him, had betrayed his real family for a bastard wizard brother he barely knew. If his son had apologized and shown regret for his mistake, perhaps he would have considered a less fatal punishment. But Thomas hadn’t and so he was dragged down to the Deeps.

The wizard had tried to rescue and inevitably failed. He was chained up across from him. There is a vicious pleasure in making Thomas’ newly found brother watch. When his son is dragged to the center stone table Lord Raith starts the sacrifice.

His son’s life is violently torn from him and he watches. The wizard is dead less than a minute later and Margaret’s curse finally breaks.

Killing Thomas had been necessary. He had not loved his son. Still, he mourns in his own way.

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Lord Raith never got around to actually killing his son.

The infant he let live because it would have upset Margaret and the enthrallment was incomplete. Lara had shown signs of attachment as well. If she ever became difficult, that familial bond could be used against her. Besides, it was a newborn and not yet a threat. He would let the boy reach childhood.

When Margaret placed her death curse he had barely controlled his rage. But it wouldn’t change Margaret’s action and Thomas’ death would be petty revenge (he only learned about the boy’s connection to the death curse much later). Besides, he didn’t want to upset the White Court. They would have been harder to control with his inability to feed.

Killing his son after his awakening would have been simple. That was the time when they grew the most dangerous. But Thomas showed no sign of aggression or leanings toward violence. Only the fear and confusion of realizing he wasn’t really human. He was young and still harmless so he got to live.

Lord Raith suspected a problem when he learned about Thomas’ interactions with Dresden but it had seemed absurd that his son would betray him. He was willing to tolerate minor indiscretions. He should have known better but perhaps he was blinded by his fondness for his youngest son. It had been easy to justify with how useful Thomas could be.

It is harder to think now. Lara had embraced her full strength and overpowered his will. For all his fear of his sons, it was ironic that it is his dutiful daughter who would overthrow him. She would at least be an effective Queen.

There is a grudging respect for his son: he had fought against him and not only survived but _won_.

If he was a more loving father perhaps he would even be proud of his son.


End file.
